Russian Proton-M rocket explodes on launch in Kazakhstan

[Nipuna]

Better down than up? (Image: via RT)

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It's not much fun being a Russian rocket scientist at the moment. On Saturday they suffered the latest in a string of high-profile disasters, after a Proton-M rocket failed during the third stage of the launch. A Proton-M launched last May failed as well, as did one in 2013.

The 2013 failure was particularly dramatic, with the rocket flipping over seconds after launch before crashing back to earth in a blaze of smoke and fire.

Saturday's launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan managed to get a little further, with abnormalities in the third stage engine booster detected after 497 seconds of flight.

Thankfully no one was hurt or injured in the accident, but an expensive telecommunications satellite known as MexSat-1 was lost. Manufactured by Boeing, the satellite had been delivered as part of a $1 billion contract ordered by the Mexican government. It had been intended as a key component in the country's national security communications infrastructure.

About 10 per cent of Proton-M launches are now said to have failed. As an investigation into the latest incident gets under way, further questions will be raised about the reliability of Russia's space operations.

Indeed, the accident has already had repercussions, with British telecoms firm Inmarsat having to delay the launch of a high-capacity mobile broadband satellite originally scheduled to be in orbit by early June.